Paris Olympics tennis players' dirty little secret is that clay gets everywhere and is hard to clean

Rafael Nadal of Spain during his match with his teammate Carlos Alcaraz against Tallon Griekspoor and Wesley Koolhof of the Netherlands during the men's doubles tennis competition at the Roland Garros stadium, at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Tuesday, July 30, 2024, in Paris, France.

Rafael Nadal of Spain during his match with his teammate Carlos Alcaraz against Tallon Griekspoor and Wesley Koolhof of the Netherlands during the men's doubles tennis competition at the Roland Garros stadium, at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Tuesday, July 30, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)


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PARIS — Tennis players competing on the kind of red clay courts being used at the Paris Olympics this week know that it's pretty much impossible to keep clothes — especially white socks — and footwear clean while running around on what's really dust from crushed red bricks. Some will just throw away stuff. Others are resigned to never being able to get the dirt out completely. Some actually enjoy it. Then there are those who have secret recipes for cleaning their outfits. Tokyo Games bronze medalist Elina Svitolina throws items in water with baking soda and vinegar and lets them soak for an hour, before then putting them in a regular laundry load.

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